"the bus was quiet".
that's how tired the senior sunday schoolers are. aging 12-17, 40 of them at a camp with 17 teachers. talk about a teacher-student ratio, we got the best ever. haha... the camp, from 5-7 dec was held at NUBE Center, P.D.
i was in charge of the beach games for day 1 and day 2. man, were they tired. i have to say i felt pretty guilty cause technically (and physically felt by them) it would be torturing. but i had tested it myself and measured and estimated the proper load for them (both boys and girls). so, it should be alright.
i grew up in sunday school myself and it does get boring playing the same games over and over again. and seeing the increase in intelligence in youths nowadays, the games of the 'old days' are peanuts and boring. so i decided to tweak and push them. this is no stroll. i had to be careful though that it doesn't turn out to be like a Physical Training camp.
the youths are the typical KL 'PS3-DOTA-1U-Megamall'ing youths. so, in camp, do something out of this world... i mean, city.
before we left, i did debrief them on the games; to why i did what i did (and to prove that i'm not some sadistic freak).
1) i designed it that the tasks requires team work and have no room for individual display.
2) the difficulty(perseverance) brings out different reactions (character). whether there were mistakes of outbursts or negativity, that's for themselves to judge and reflect upon. i'm a strong believer that games/sports, brings out the true colours of people. myself included.
3) you see a 12 yr old struggling, did you (17s) support them and give them encouragement to go on?
4) look at what you (and a big YOU) have achieved as a team.
5) leading by example. the leaders were dead tired already, but they kept going to spur the team on.
6) be proud of yourselves. i believe you've hit your limits and went way past your limits. i'm sure you have acheived lots more in character.
i'm equally tired. preparation has its toll and i'm very grateful for the teachers that help me carry it out. i have to admit that there are times i was worried that it would go wrong or it would not be liked by the youths. but i really prayed to God for wisdom and ways to teach and nurture through games. already accumulating lots of lacking in sleep, i know God sustained me through the active camp.
and lastly,
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